A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned

Chores.  The idea of having a few extra hands help out with some of the household tasks on a regular basis sounds so appealing to me.  I can just imagine myself sipping a cup of tea while my dear little ones do the dishes, scrub the toilets and do all of the yardwork.  Well, kind of.  At this point in life -having two preschoolers in the house - I'm not putting down my Swiffer just yet.  I know that Andrew and I are the ones who will do the majority of the household and yard chores.  However, instilling a sense of responsibility and helpfulness in our 5 and 3 year olds is something that we feel very strongly about.  We want to get them used to the idea that in our house, we all help out.  Likewise, we want to get them accustomed to having a small allowance and  understanding how their money is to be used.

I have pored over various pre-made chore charts and ideas on how to instill a working chore schedule at home.  Some of them looked better than others and many of them have components we wanted to incorporate.  So, I took some ideas I had heard or read about and combined them with my own ideas to come up with our own custom Martin Chore Chart.  Voila!

At our house, every chore on the chart is mandatory.  We want the kids to realize that certain tasks are an inherent part of being in our family.  They do not have a choice as to whether or not they will complete them.  They are not optional.  Likewise, they know that as long as they do their chores, they will get their allowance for the week.  No exceptions, no breaks.  The chores get done each day and at the end of the week they get their allowance for being obedient.

The chart that I created is done on a standard piece of poster board.  I made 9 columns - 1 for the chore headings, 1 to indicate a weekly activity and 7 columns representing each day of the week for daily chores.  I have blank spaces to add additional chores as the children mature and can take on more responsibility.  Each child has a different color button, which is represented in the key at the bottom of the chart.  The buttons are affixed with a square of Velcro and a strip of Velcro is placed in each relevant row on the chart.  When the chore is completed throughout the week, a button is Velcroed to the proper spot.  Mentally, I know which chores each child is responsible for but this can always be documented in a notebook as well.  As you can see, our green-buttoned 3 year-old only is responsible for two chores - cleaning his toys and wiping down the table at the end of dinner.  Our 5 year-old is responsible for many more, merely based on his age.  At the end of the week, the buttons are un-Velcroed and we start again for the next week.

 Our banking system is not very advanced, but it definitely works.  Each child has a covered square storage box.  I bought these at Target for about $3 each.  I painted their names on the outside of the box and inside are 4 cups, snugly fitted next to each other.  Each cup represents an area in our "bank" where a portion of the allowance will go.  Each week, the boys' $1 alowance is split up as follows. 

$0.10 - Tithe to church.  We want the kids to realize the importance of giving the first 10% of our income back to God.

$0.30 - Savings.  This money is collected for future savings.

$0.30 - Gifts.  This money is collected and will be used to buy birthday and Christmas gifts for their siblings.

$0.30 - Spending.  This money may be saved up for a special purchase.

The kids are young enough where the actual monetary value of the allowance is not yet relevant and the true lesson is basically to get used to the idea of being given money and having to manage it responsibly.  As they get older, we can increase the dollar amount of the allowance, if desired.

So far, this method has been the best yet for our family in organizing the chore responsibilities and equating their tasks with their allowance.  The boys eagerly do their chores so that they can put one of their colored buttons onto the chart. They encourage eachother to get their own chores done and never let me forget when it is time to dole out the buttons or, specifically, if it is pay day!  I think we will be keeping this up for quite some time and God-willing, it will be a valuable lesson in responsibility and financial management for our two little men. 

Write me some comments if you have any other solutions that may have worked for your family when implementing a chore chart.  I look forward to hearing your ideas!

Family Movie Night: The Princess and the Frog

Title: The Princess and the Frog
Snacks: Princess wand cookies, gummy frogs, popcorn, Shirley Temples

This past Saturday night we had our friend JoAnn and her daughter Regan over for dinner and Movie Night while her husband is away in Japan with the military (safely!).  She is Nate and Abby's beloved teacher in their church classroom so boy were they ever excited to have her over for one of our favorite family activities.

In 8 year-old Regan's honor, the boys agreed to suck it up and watch a princess movie since "girls like princesses."  So, we all consulted and decided on The Princess and the Frog since nobody had seen it yet.  Cute movie despite the multitude of questions about what voodoo is from the kids :).  The witty frog made up for that minor shortcoming!

Given a movie featuring frogs and princesses, the snacks ideas were endlessly streaming through my head.  In the end I opted for pretty princess magic wand cookies and these fun gummy frogs that we had seen in a local supermarket.  What a hit!  The kids all loved them and they matched our theme so perfectly.  Our wands were 2 cutout cookies with a bamboo skewer sandwiched between them.  They were glazed in pink and decorated with decorating glitter and edible pearls.   Uh, if these don't make you want to wish for a fairy godmother, I don't know what will! :)  They were so much fun for all especially our special eight year old guest.  I may only have a toddler girl in the house, but I do know that little girls love pink, tulle and sparkly things! :)

MOPS: March Coordinator's Article

March goes in like a lion and out like a lamb. It’s that way this month when the bitter cold as we enter March is morphed into the beginnings of spring as April approaches. And, as human as we are, it is sometimes like that as we go through life and are faced with challenges that make us want to just roar like a lion!


As a mother of preschoolers, I certainly humble myself to admit that there are just some days when that lion wrestles with my patience. You know, one of those days. Maybe something is on your mind or you had an argument with a spouse. Maybe you have a full calendar today that really doesn’t have room for wiping noses and tushies. Maybe your dear little ones are constantly arguing or whining or clawing at your leg as you try to do, well, anything. Maybe you just want to go to the bathroom in peace: alone and with the door locked instead of with a full house watching your performance.

I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes it is just tough to keep that lamb safe from being attacked by the snarling feline within. If you put your guard down for a minute, it could eat you alive. Kids get snapped at, tears start, voices are raised. It is never a pretty sight. And to make matters even worse, episodes such as these are usually  followed by guilt and remorse. Who really is winning in this situation? Not the downtrodden mother or the tearful child, but only that sly serpent who is sitting back watching us take a bite of the apple.

Since becoming a God-fearing Christian woman, I have often prayed over James 1:19, “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” Yes, this means even when that 2 year-old has been talking the entire day; when that 4 year-old throws yet another tantrum (isn’t he too old for this anyways?); or when that 6 year-old begs you to play Candy Land for the umpteenth time this week when you really would prefer to get some work done around the house or in the office instead.

God has hand-picked these tender little hearts to be sculpted and shepherded by you, the one who often feels unworthy or inferior in the mother role. He knows that nobody is more perfect for your young one than you and believes in your ability to raise these children up to know the  Lord and to help to guide their path. He even provides us with instructions on how to best raise these little ones: the Bible.


So as a mother, when the days seem endless and naptime evades your household, take a deep breath, get out your Bible and recite James 1:19 a few times. It is such a calming, restorative verse that never fails to open my ears to listen to a round of why questions for the millionth time. It holds my tongue when I just feel like truncating that round of curiosity with a curt response. And it calms my soul when I feel like yelling at one of those sweet little ones. As Christian women, we know the Bible is the tool to keep that ferocious lion within us at bay so that the gentle lamb can rest peacefully. Let’s go ahead and use what God has given to us.

Blessings!